it’s a magical unicorn world now where anything can happen…

“the family romanov” – great non-fiction choice – the story of the last tsar family – spoiler, it didn’t end well – and nothing like the movie anastasia – i’d definitely forgotten the end – read really well though

“the hunt for vulcan” – new book – there was thought for a while that there was a planet between the sun and mercury – named vulcan – the book tells that story – and how scientists learn stuff – great, great book – i think i even understand einstein’s special theory of relativity now – just ask me:)

mafeld

Write about a character who makes a promise to someone dear to them years before – and then doesn’t keep it. Explore their point of view years later. What prevented them from keeping the promise and how did it change them?

happy last week of august…

“the brothers” – started last week by finishing a book about the brothers who carried out the marathon bombings in 2013 – i obviously have a vested interest in the material – the part about the brothers’ background was very interesting – and the ties the FBI has to planting fake attacks – it was a good book – though i’m not sure i believe all of the author’s strong POV

“prisoner of night and fog” – middle school BOB – any book with Uncle Adolf is odd – particularly when Uncle Adolf tries to make a move on you – yeah, awkward – i liked that the author did research – it really was a bit much though – i felt like the main character was more a 2015 girl in what the author thought was Nazi Germany than anything truly historic – of course, there’s a sequel (I will NOT be reading… 🙂

“thank you for arguing” – awesome book on rhetoric – OMHS uses it for AP English – i can see why – we’re going to use some of the activities in our class – i’m excited

“i kill the mockingbird” – great middle school BOB – easy to read – and fun – unpredictable – baseball tie-ins – AND – a BUFFY REFERENCE!!! so the book has it all:) actually, it’s not thrilling or anything, but there’s even a kiss for princess sarah elizabeth – so i definitely think this is the BOB everyone can enjoy

hope everyone’s reading goes swimmingly

mafeld

tell the story of a first day for someone/something…

i’m calling dibs on the story of a mayfly

maf

you know, go for a while – then let the second and third string kids play out the rest of the day…

“all the bright places” – ah, billy… my final HS BOB – i don’t say this often – it’s a sad book – and i hate when kids say “sad” b/c they’re typically upset at the book’s ending – they always want happy ever after – and that’s not life often – that said, this is the darkest YA i’ve ever read – and the author has a reason for the book – i don’t think it should’ve been BOB though

“small group communication in context” – i read an old professor of mine’s book – there’s a chance i actually read a version of the book years ago for his class – i was surprised at what i remembered – it was a good read – here’s a fun tip for you: men, young boys even, will interrupt women – even women in positions of authority – but the reverse is seldom true – women will wait for their turn – if you ever notice my classroom, for every 100 boy interruptions – without a hand raise – there will be a female waiting to speak

i have a brilliant creative writing exercise for the detective next week

mafeld

wow, first week is coming – i wish i spent monday with kids instead of in meetings

snazzle-iciously great things planned for Day 1 – bring your tech device – and spread the word

“Flash: Season Zero” – i can count comics, right? it was good – i would watch the series on cw but i don’t get it on my tv – and i’m busy rewatching full house right now – so the comic was fun – and unlike the buffy comics, i could keep up

“Red Queen” – billy now has two BOBs he can like – actually, you all have my permission to read Red Queen – it’s not must read – but if you like the hunger games stuff, this is a step up readingwise – and in the similar vein – so i liked the book – it went unexpected directions after about the first 80 pages

“Washington Irving” – i have tons of sleepy hollow and rip van winkle trivia now – one cool thing i can share with the bloggers, irving spent the second half of his life as a diplomat for the US – he lived in spain for four years during the john tyler/james polk admins and kept tabs on isabella II

book quiz on day one – so be ready:)

mafeld

you know, so that all the cool blog kids feel included and the rest don’t

maybe snazzle???

“ten” – poor billy – HS BOB hits rock bottom with this one – girl on a remote island – all her friends are being killed by a serial killer – but she’s also falling in love – choices, choices… two things should never be mixed – horror and romance – just bad, bad…

“timebound” – poor billy – HS BOB hits bottom again – time traveling book that breaks all sorts of rules – of course, we have the insecure, female protagonist who suddenly finds herself the object of every boy’s eye – at least two of them – because as well all know, women are nothing without men – grr… i really hated this book

“thousand dollar tan line” – kids, when you’re all grown up, you too can watch the veronica mars series – and fall in love with the clever high school girl detective – veronica was made into a movie last year – and the creator/director has now issued a couple of books – normally, fiction books based on a series are bad – this one wasn’t terrible – i mean, it’s not going to make a BOB list any time soon – that’s for classy books – but the veronica series – it was good to read about her as a character – and trying to figure the mystery out – so i really enjoyed it

happy last week

mafeld